Graffiti
Hilary Hares
It’s art; the part you play on the street,
marking it out, making a name-that-isn’t-
your-name, part of a clan, an Instagram scam –
indelible fame. It’s blame.
This is home, if you don’t have a home,
it’s making your bones, taking the piss. It’s risk.
Feel the beat of the street, a cult in plain sight.
It’s not about greed, it’s need. We bleed.
It’s a dig at fools who make rules. It’s cool.
It’s gain, pain. How far can you lean?
How high can you climb? It’s organized crime,
a ten-year stretch – life on the line.
Hilary Hares’ poems appear widely online and in print. She has also achieved success in various competitions. She has an MA in Poetry from Manchester Metropolitan University and her pamphlets, A Butterfly Lands on the Moon, Red Queen, and Mr Yamada Cooks Lunch for Twenty Three are available through: www.hilaryhares.com